Carnival Mardi Gras passenger 'jumps overboard' as screaming children alert crew

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A man jumped off a Carnival Cruise Line ship into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida Saturday morning, officials said

The Coast Guard deployed two patrol boats and an airplane to search for the unidentified 43-year-old, whose jump reportedly had shaken vacationers running and screaming on the ship’s deck.

The man plunged from the ship just after midnight, about 55 miles east of Port Canaveral, according to the military and Carnival officials.

A passenger on the massive ship reported that people were scrambling on the cruiseliner’s deck early Saturday morning as officials on the Mardi Gras and nearby cruise ship Elation began their search for the overboard man, according to TMZ.

The Mardi Gras had departed from Grand Turk and was slated to finish its scheduled route to the naval port as the search resumed, officials said.

“The Carnival Care Team is supporting the guest’s family,” said Carnival spokesman Matt Lupoli. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest and his family.”

The incident was the third of its kind to befall the cruise company in the past three months.

Last month, the body of a man who had jumped off the Carnival Horizon was recovered in the Caribbean Sea.

In February a woman jumped to her death off the Carnival Valor into the Gulf of Mexico after she was confronted by ship security following an altercation in a hot tub.

With Post wires

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